Jean-François Legendre-Héral (; 21 January 1796,

Montpellier Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...

– 13 September 1851, Marcilly) was a French classical sculptor.

Biography

Jean-Francois Legendre-Heral was born on 21 January 1796 in Montpellier. His father was a postal worker. After his father's death, his mother married a musician, who introduced him to the arts. He was soon allowed to enroll in the

École nationale des beaux-arts de Lyon École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * Éco ...

, where he studied with Joseph Chinard and Joseph Charles Marin. In 1817, he obtained a grant from the city for a study trip to Rome. It was at this time that he added his step-father's name to his own to become Legendre-Héral. During his stay there, his fellow sculptor

James Pradier James Pradier (born Jean-Jacques Pradier, ; 23 May 1790 – 4 June 1852) was a Genevan-born French sculptor best known for his work in the neoclassical style. Life and work Born in Geneva (then the Republic of Geneva), Pradier was the son of a ...

accused him of casting his sculptures from life; an accusation that would later become the source of rumours in Lyon and Paris, apparently spread by

François Joseph Bosio Baron François Joseph Bosio (19 March 1768 – 29 July 1845) was a Monegasque sculptor who achieved distinction in the first quarter of the nineteenth century with his work for Napoleon and for the restored French monarchy. Biography Born in ...

.Wikiphidias: Brief biography
/ref> In 1819, he was named to a professorship at the École, where

Jean-Marie Bonnassieux Jean-Marie Bienaimé Bonnassieux (; 1810, Panissières, Loire – 1892) was a French sculptor. Biography Born the son of a cabinet maker in Lyon, Bonnassieux exhibited talent from a young age.He received his education at the École nationale su ...

and

Hippolyte Flandrin Jean-Hippolyte Flandrin (23 March 1809 – 21 March 1864) was a French Neoclassical painter. His most celebrated work, ''Study (Young Male Nude Seated Beside the Sea), Jeune Homme Nu Assis au Bord de la Mer'' (1836) is held in the Louvre. Biog ...

were among his first students. In 1825, he went to Paris with a deputation from

Hérault Hérault (; , ) is a departments of France, department of the Regions of France, region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Southern France. Named after the Hérault (river), Hérault River, its Prefectures in France, prefecture is M ...

to work on implementing an

equestrian statue An equestrian statue is a statue of a rider mounted on a horse, from the Latin ''eques'', meaning 'knight', deriving from ''equus'', meaning 'horse'. A statue of a riderless horse is strictly an equine statue. A full-sized equestrian statue is a ...

Louis XIV LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...

for his hometown of Montpellier. He took this opportunity to request an extended leave from the École. Three years later, he returned to Lyon. He executed several major commissions for the City of Lyon. In 1837, he was named a Chevalier in the

Legion d'Honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and civil. Currently consisting of five classes, it was ...

. The following year, he resigned from his teaching position and moved to Paris, where he was awarded major government contracts for the

Jardin des Plantes The Jardin des Plantes (, ), also known as the Jardin des Plantes de Paris () when distinguished from other ''jardins des plantes'' in other cities, is the main botanical garden in France. Jardin des Plantes is the official name in the present da ...

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...

and several churches. In his last years, he suffered from a disease of the spinal cord, ceased working, and retired to Marcilly. His son,

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''* ...

, who served as a model for some of his father's best-known statues, married an American and emigrated to the United States in 1854, where he became a Union General during the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

, an ambassador to China and an advisor to the governments of Japan and Korea.

Selected sculptures

''An exhaustive list of his works may be found in the corresponding article on French Wikipedia'' Giotto enfant Legendre-Heral MBA Lyon

* 1825, "Christ and the Twelve Apostles", a statuary ensemble originally part of the altar at the

Royal Monastery of Brou The Royal Monastery of Brou is a religious complex located at Bourg-en-Bresse in the Ain département, central France. Made out of monastic buildings in addition to a church, they were built at the beginning of the 16th century by Margaret of Aust ...

. The seminary was closed in 1907 and the altar was acquired in 1939 by a local magistrate for 5,000

Franc The franc is any of various units of currency. One franc is typically divided into 100 centimes. The name is said to derive from the Latin inscription ''francorum rex'' (King of the Franks) used on early French coins and until the 18th century ...

s. Two years later, it was placed in the new "Church of the Sacred Heart". It was dismantled in 1968. * 1829, Henry IV, for the Hôtel de Ville (City Hall) of Lyon. The limestone was heavily damaged by air pollution and replaced by a cast in 1985. It is now on display at the Musée Gadagne * 1830, "The Four Evangelists", lost during the restoration of the

Église Saint-Paul St. Paul's Church or St Paul's Church or any variation thereof may refer to: Australia *St Paul's Church, Adelaide, once an Anglican church in the city *Church of St Paul, Talbingo, multi-faith church in the Snowy Mountains Belgium * St. Paul's ...

in 1901. * 1830s, Busts of

Bernard de Jussieu Bernard de Jussieu (; 17 August 1699 – 6 November 1777) was a French naturalist, younger brother of Antoine de Jussieu. Bernard de Jussieu was born in Lyon. He took a medical degree at Montpellier and began practice in 1720, but finding the wo ...

, Pierre Puget,

Nicolas Coustou Nicolas Coustou (; 9 January 1658 – 1 May 1733) was a French sculpture, sculptor and academic. Biography Born in Lyon, Coustou was the son of a woodcarver, François Coustou, who gave him his first instruction in art, and Claudine Coysev ...

Philibert de l'Orme Philibert de l'Orme () (3-9 June 1514 – 8 January 1570) was a French architect and writer, and one of the great masters of French Renaissance architecture. His surname is also written De l'Orme, de L'Orme, or Delorme. Biography Early care ...

Pierre Poivre Pierre Poivre (23 August 1719 – 6 January 1786) was an 18th-century horticulturist and botanist. He was born in Lyon, France. He was a missionary to East Asia, intendant of French colonial islands in the Indian Ocean, and wearer of the cordon ...

André Marie Constant Duméril André Marie Constant Duméril (1 January 1774 – 14 August 1860) was a French zoologist. He was professor of anatomy at the National Museum of Natural History (France), Muséum national d'histoire naturelle from 1801 to 1812, when he became pr ...

and

Camille de Tournon-Simiane Comte (Philippe-Marcellin) Camille de Tournon-Simiane (1778 – 18 June 1833) was a French bureaucrat, a ''chambellan'' of Napoleon I who served the Emperor as Prefect of Rome (department), Rome (6 September 1809 – 19 January 1814), and ...

. * 1841, "Giotto enfant dessinant sur le sable", (

Giotto Giotto di Bondone (; – January 8, 1337), known mononymously as Giotto, was an List of Italian painters, Italian painter and architect from Florence during the Late Middle Ages. He worked during the International Gothic, Gothic and Italian Ren ...

as a Child, Drawing in the Sand), marble (Musée de Montpellier), bronze (garden of the Palais Saint-Pierre de Lyon), plaster (

Musée de la Chartreuse de Douai The Musée de la Chartreuse is an art museum in a former Carthusian monastery in Douai, France. It is the 'musée des Beaux-Arts' for the city. Building Built by Jacques d'Abancourt in brick and stone in the Renaissance style, on the site of ...

). * 1843, "

Anne-Robert-Jacques Turgot Anne Robert Jacques Turgot, Baron de l'Aulne ( ; ; 10 May 172718 March 1781), commonly known as Turgot, was a French economist and statesman. Sometimes considered a physiocrat, he is today best remembered as an early advocate for economic liber ...

", marble,

Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon The Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon (, ) is a municipal museum of fine arts in the French city of Lyon. Located near the Place des Terreaux, it is housed in a former Benedictine convent which was active during the 17th and 18th centuries. It was res ...

. A copy is in the

Palais du Luxembourg The Luxembourg Palace (, ) is at 15 Rue de Vaugirard in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, France. It was originally built (1615–1645) to the designs of the French architect Salomon de Brosse to be the royal residence of the regent Marie de' Med ...

. * 1847, "The City of Lyon welcomes the Arts, Commerce, Industry and Agriculture",

bas-relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

at the entrance to the Palais de Justice de Lyon waiting room.

References

External links

Legendre-Héral
@ the Base Arcade
Legendre-Héral
@ the Base Mémoire
Legendre-Héral
@ Réunion des Musées Nationaux, L'Agence Photo. {{DEFAULTSORT:Legendre-Heral, Jean-Francois 1796 births 1851 deaths 19th-century French sculptors French male sculptors Artists from Montpellier 19th-century French male artists

Biography

Selected sculptures

References

Further reading

External links